1. User Name and Password
   Your User Name and Password give you access to your accounts. Your User Name is a unique code that identifies you when you use Online Banking. Your User Name can be 4 to 12 alphanumeric characters and should be easy for you to remember. You must also select a 4-12 character alphanumeric Password that will be verified each time you log in to Online Banking. You can change this Password online at anytime.
2. Technology
   All information within Online Banking uses the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol for transferring data. SSL is a crypto system that creates a secure environment for the information being transferred between your browser and FirstMerit.

At a high level, SSL uses public key cryptography to secure transmissions over the Internet. In practice, your browser will send a message via SSL to the bank's server. The bank responds by sending a certificate that contains the bank's public key. Your browser authenticates the certificate (agrees that the server is in fact FirstMerit), then generates a random session key that is used to encrypt data traveling between your browser and the bank's server. This session key is encrypted using the bank's public key and sent back to the server. The bank decrypts this message using its private key, and then uses the session key for the remainder of the communication.

1. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protects data in three key ways: a.) Authentication
   This ensures that you are communicating with the correct server. This prevents another computer from impersonating FirstMerit.

   b.) Encryption
   This scrambles transferred data.

   c.) Data integrity This verifies that the information sent by you to FirstMerit wasn't altered during the transfer. The system detects if data was added or deleted after you sent the message. If any tampering has occurred, the connection is dropped.

2. Automatic Sign Off
   If you do not take an action within fifteen minutes, you are automatically signed off of Online Banking to prevent passersby from using your account.
3. Your Responsibility
   Here are the steps that you can take to ensure data privacy:
   • Do not share your User Name or Password with anyone.
   • Change your Password often (you can do this using the Change Password functionality of Online Banking).
   • A FirstMerit employee will never need to know your Password, and you should never furnish it to someone claiming that they represent FirstMerit.
   • Exit from Online Banking as soon as you finish viewing your accounts. Never walk away from your computer with your account information on the screen.